Stanislaus County schools out until at least May due to coronavirus
Students in Stanislaus County’s public schools won’t return to campus until May, at the earliest.
On Thursday morning, the Stanislaus County Office of Education issued a news release on the postponement of reopening schools, which districts had initially planned to do on various dates between April 6 and April 20.
“To prevent further spread of COVID-19, the Stanislaus County Office of Education, in collaboration with the 25 school districts in the county, and the Stanislaus Public Health Department, is announcing that school closures are extending through May 3, 2020. Students will return to school on May 4,” the release said.
In it, county Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall said, “It is critical that learning continues for all students during school closures.” Parent resources are available from local school districts and on SCOE’s website at www.stancoe.org/coronavirus.
It would take about that long to control the spread of the coronavirus, Dr. Julie Vaishampayan said in a Facebook Live forum on Wednesday evening. She was joined by county Sheriff Jeff Dirkse and Modesto Mayor Ted Brandvold.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California parents and students should expect schools to stay closed through summer break. “I would plan and assume that it’s unlikely that many of these schools, few, if any, will open before the summer break,” he said.
Vaishampayan said the state’s stay-home order has to stay in place long enough to slow the COVID-19 transmission. She projected six weeks between last week’s order and a possible school resumption in early May.
“We need to make sure that the (virus) activity is very much down and the threat is decreased to a very low level before we want people to start mixing again in the ways they have been,” Vaishampayan said.
Stanislaus had 17 confirmed cases as of Thursday and no deaths. An explosion in the count could overwhelm hospitals, Vaishampayan said.
Dirkse again urged residents to heed the stay-at-home order unless they work in jobs deemed “essential.” He said “social pressure” is preferred over law enforcement in keeping the county healthy.
Brandvold reiterated that the city is not shutting off its utility services for nonpayment during the emergency. He also urged residents to find volunteer opportunities at www.lovemodesto.com.
In other developments on Thursday, Tuolumne County reported its first case of COVID-19, from someone traveling through the county from Mono County. Merced County’s cases remained at one confirmed; Calaveras is at three. San Joaquin County, where the number of confirmed cases has been growing swiftly, reported 78 cases and three deaths from the virus as of Thursday.
This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 5:08 AM with the headline "Stanislaus County schools out until at least May due to coronavirus."
